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Ephesians Sermon The Church

The Church: Ephesians 2:19-22

Today we shall look study Ephesian 2:19-22,

I titled my sermon as ” The church”. Bible uses the word “Body” as a metaphor of church,

Each part of the body has a different role. Similarly, each one of us has different roles in the body of Christ.

If we don’t know our roles and if we don’t work together, we will face confusion in the body of Christ, so in order to know the purpose of the church these few weeks, we are taking up the doctrine of Church, so that we all will understand what church is, the purpose and role of the church, and build up strong, biblical and healthy church.

Background of Ephesian.

We know apostle Paul wrote this letter, This letter to the Ephesian was written in Rome and was the first of the prison letters, written in 60 AD.

The theme of this epistle is

 “The church, Christ Body.”

Ephesian focus on the Basic Doctrine of the Church. What it is and how believers function within it.

The first 3 chapters of Ephesian emphasize doctrine and the last 3 chapters emphasize behaviour.

Meaning of Church

The word Church (Ekklesia) comes from 2 Greek words, “Ek” which means ‘out’, “Kaleo” which means ‘to call’.

So Ekklesia(Church) means – called out ones.

Thus it means that the church is a group of people who are called out from the darkness of this world to marvellous light to be a special people to serve the living God.


Remember the church is not a building which we go to, or denominations or social activities you take up.

Text Ephesian 2:19-22.NASB.

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,

20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone,

21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy [b]temple in the Lord,

22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

In order to understand these passages we shall go back to the previous verses.

Chapters 2 talk about the condition of the church before they received Christ.

  1. You were dead in your trespasses and sin. (2:1)
  2. You used to live in the ways of the world. (2:2)
  3. Walk according to the desire of Satan. (2:2)
  4. Living in the lust of the flesh. (2:3)
  5. Children of wrath. (2:3)
  6. Separated from God.  (2:12)
  7. Living without hope and without God. (2:12)

But the great news is in Ephesian 2:4-5.

4. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

 5 even when we were dead [f]in our transgressions, made us alive together [g]with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

He chose us before the foundation of the world.(1:4).

Redemption through His blood(1:7)

Forgave our sin according to the richest of His grace. (1:7)

He has adopted us (1:5).

Sealed us by the Holy Spirit. (1:13)

Brought peace in our life.  (2:14)

He reconciled us to the Father.(2:16)

And Paul continues in verse 19-22,

We shall see 5 points under these texts.

  1. The church is the citizens of God’s kingdom. (19a).

19. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the [p]saints, and are of God’s household.

– Our permanent home is in heaven we are just passing this world. John 14:1-2 Jesus is preparing a place for us and He is coming back.

– We belong to God’s kingdom.

Illustration: Matthew 7:21-24.

Application: are you sure of your citizenship in heaven.

Let us examine ourself and confess our sins and surrender our life to Christ.

  1. The church is the family or household of God. (19b)

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the [p]saints, and are of God’s household”

Not only citizenship but be we are now God’s beloved family.

Illustration: Prodigal son Luke 15.

Application: Are you in the Father house?

  1. The church is built in the foundation of Christ. 20.

20 “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.”

Illustration: Two builders, wise and foolish builder’s. Matthew 7:24-27.

Cf Psalm 127:1-2.

Application: Are you building up your life in Christ foundation?

  1. The church are joined together to grow in Christ. 21.

“21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,”

We need to work together, we need to come together as one body in this church and grow together in Him.

Illustration: A baby that never grow.

We believe we need spiritual food daily. Meditating on the word of God and praying.

Application : Are you growing daily in the Lord?

  1. The church is a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. (22)

“In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

The day you received Christ, Holy Spirit dwell in you. How are you maintaining your heart?

Illustration: Corinthian church.

1Corinthian 6:19-20.

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.

Application: Are you bringing glory to God through your body?

God bless you.

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Matthew Sermon

Finding True Satisfaction – Matthew 13:44-46

Today’s sermon is part of a series called ‘Gospel Renewal’. Through these sermon series, we are discovering how to consistently live all of life under the influence of the gospel.

So far, we’ve covered topics on Prayer, Humility, Repentance & Dependence. Today we will look into the topic of ‘Gospel Satisfaction’ – In this broken world, how can we live a truly satisfied Life. And our passage for today is Matt 13:44-46.

To begin with, let’s ask ourselves “How many of us don’t want to live a satisfied life?” – None, right. Which means every one of us wants to live a satisfied life.

Last week as I was thinking about our topic today on ‘Satisfaction’, I asked a couple of people at my home and office from different age groups “What is it that you expect to happen in your life that you think will give you ultimate satisfaction?”

Here are some of the answers I received:

I will be fully satisfied in life…

• When all my debt is clear
• When I get my dream job
• When the conflicts in my home will be fully resolved
• When I get a dog (answer by a 10-year-old)
• When I am healed of my sickness
• When I have a good enough bank balance

Here are a couple of things I learnt when I heard these answers

  • We all tend to look for satisfaction in the fleeting pleasures and things of this world.
  • At different junctures in life, these desires keep changing. It never ends.
  • If we genuinely evaluate, there is nothing of this world that can give permanent satisfaction in life, even on our death bed, we will be discontent with something we never got to enjoy.
  • The sad reality – Unknowingly, we are spending all our lives wasting our energy chasing after things that were never meant to give us true satisfaction.

If these things are not meant to give us true satisfaction, what is it that gives us true satisfaction? To discover that, let’s look at our passage today and find the answer – Matt 13:44-46

“The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

First of all, we have to note that the passage is a parable and not a direct command. And therefore, we have to understand the principle behind the parable and not to take it literally.

Jesus is telling us the parable about a man who finds such satisfaction in what he found, that he went and sold everything he had to own it.

True satisfaction in life comes when we find and chase after the one thing that’s of great value.

What is that one thing that the man in this parable finds of great value? – The Kingdom of God.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”

Jesus is saying, instead of running after all these things in life that you think will give you real satisfaction. I’m saying first seek the Kingdom, and all other things shall be added unto you.

To chase after the Kingdom of God should be of primary importance, then chasing after the things of the world. 1 John 2:17 says “the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” Isn’t it true?

The picture painted in the parable is of a man who is running after the right thing and is fully satisfied.

Now, what is the Kingdom of God?

The Kingdom of God is God’s redemptive work through his son Jesus Christ in the world, resulting in people being in right relationship with himself. The Kingdom of God is the big picture of what God is doing in this world.

Which means to seek and chase after the Kingdom of God, is to walk in right relationship with God and to participate in God’s glorious work in this world.

If you are someone who’s hearing such a message for the first time, having a troubled life, without peace, without joy… You need to know that unless we walk into a right relationship with our creator God, we will never find true satisfaction. What you need right now is not a temporary solution to your temporary problem but a permanent solution that will set you free forever.

The answer to all our temporary problems is one permanent solution – Restored relationship with our creator God.

Bible says, Our sins have separated us from God, the reason the world is dark, broken, lost is because we are separated from God who created us for this glory. Instead of worshipping and adoring him, we end up worshipping the created things of this world. Idols, money, fame, pleasures.

And none of them is capable of giving us the true satisfaction our soul is seeking.

Money is not the solution to our problem. If it was money, then all the rich people in this world should have been the happiest people in the world, and that is absolutely not true.

Yes, money can give temporary relief, but it will never satisfy our souls, that craves for love and acceptance.

No matter how hard we try to mend the broken relationship with our creator God on our own, we will never be able to accomplish it on our own. Unless we are purified of our sins, we will never be able to relate with God, unless we’ve paid the penalty of our sins that satisfies God’s Holy wrath and anger on us we will never be able to mend the broken relationship.

And our human efforts can never satisfy God’s Holy anger.

The beautiful thing is, more than our cravings for a relationship with God, God craves, even more, to be with us.

The Bible says that God himself sent His son Jesus for us, to live the perfect life we were supposed to live, offered himself as a perfect sacrifice for the atonement of our sins, pay for our mistakes, die on the cross and satisfy God’s wrath on our behalf, to kill the power of sin in our lives. And rose again from the dead, seated in heaven, praying for us.

And so as we repent of our sins and receive Jesus as our Lord, believe in his name, he gives the right to become children of God.

True satisfaction comes when we realize how precious is this gift from God, and therefore, willing to give away anything that holds us back from receiving this gift.

“the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

Brother & sisters, it is not easy to go against the world when they say money is the answer to all problems, it not easy to go against the world when they say following family traditions and values is important, and that we have to follow them without questioning blindly.

It is not easy to drop all our idols, let go of all our dreams, count the things of the world rubbish and follow the footsteps of Jesus. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” – In other words, we cannot fully receive the Kingdom of God unless we are willing to pay the price.

The man in the parable, when he finds the Kingdom, he hides it back realizing how precious it is, goes back and sells everything he has, pays the price, and buys the land – and is fully satisfied in doing so.

To those who’ve received the Kingdom of God in their hearts. Here are two things I want to say, to help us treasure what we’ve received and to continue finding your satisfaction in it.

1. We have to order our lives around the Kingdom of God

Even after receiving the Kingdom of God in our hearts, as we continue to live in this world, among all the dark forces, the result-oriented bosses at work, the nagging family members at home, still seeking specific answers to our prayer. It is so easy for us to slip away and go back to find our satisfaction in the world.

To order our lives around the Kingdom of God is to make ‘Intimacy with Jesus’ the ultimate goal of our lives. Which means we should always be willing to let go of anyone or anything so that you grow in intimacy with Jesus.

  • Whether its an ungodly relationship that takes all our energy away and weakens us from enjoying intimacy with Jesus.
  • Whether it’s our job that doesn’t allow us time to enjoy intimacy with Jesus.
  • Whether a business that takes most of our focus away from enjoying intimacy with Jesus.
  • Whether the wealth that is stopping us from enjoying intimacy with Jesus.

Like the rich young ruler who wanted to know how to inherit eternal life. When Jesus knowing his heart idols, asked him to go and sell all that he has, give to the poor and follow him. Was unwilling to do so and went back sorrowful.

Jesus said, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”

The key to continuing living a satisfied life for all those who believe, is to order our life around the Kingdom of God, to find our satisfaction in our relationship with Christ.

2. Dedicate all of life for the expansion of the Kingdom of God

As we enjoy our relationship with Christ, fully satisfied in Him. He then calls us to participate with Him in his Kingdom work.

It’s a privilege for us to be called to participate in His work. By serving God and his people, we’re not doing a favour on God. But, in fact, God is doing a favour on us.

By allowing us to participate in his Kingdom work, he is giving us more opportunities to be satisfied in life.

Personally, as a family, to be serving God and to serve you with our time, energy and efforts, even thought it gets tiring, and exhaustive. By the end of the day when we sit down and reflect on all that God is doing in and through our lives, there is such joy and satisfaction in our hearts. I sometimes cry.

Yes, we have to look after our families, work hard to survive, but unless our primary pursuit in life is to participate in the expansion of the Kingdom of God, we are still lacking sometimes precious in life.

As I conclude, let us all first seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness that comes through repentance and belief in Jesus, and He will surely satisfy our soul with all good things in life, that is meant to bring true joy and happiness.

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Mark Sermon

Staying Loyal to Christ & His Mission – Mark 14:26-52

Our passage for this morning is Mark 14:26-52 (Read)

This week as I was reading this passage & preparing the sermon, I had to dig deep into my own heart and ask some tough questions about my loyalty to Christ.

And as I meditated on them, I believe the Holy Spirit convicted me of my Sins. But what’s amazing is that it opened my eyes to see my folly, and at the same time helped me understand God’s providence for me to help me remain loyal to Him.

As I preach from the same passage this morning, I’m hoping & praying that God would do the same work in your hearts.

In this passage, Mark is telling us the story of how Jesus was betrayed by Judas, one of his twelve disciples. And he also exposes the heart of other disciples who claimed to be loyal to Christ, but when the time came, they all ran away for their lives.

In verse 27 when Jesus tells them that “You will all fall away” as written in the scripture, we see Peter very boldly claims that even if others fall away, I will never fall away. To which Jesus says to him “This very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times”. And again to which Peter makes an, even more, bolder declaration saying “If I must die with you, I will not deny you”, and all the others joined with him and made the same claims.

But as the story progresses, we see that on the very same night when a crowd of people with swords and clubs come to arrest Jesus, the same disciples who made big claims ran for their lives.

And among them was also a young boy who ran naked leaving his cloth behind when he was caught.

As I pondered upon what the disciples did, I realised in no way we are different from them. We too make big claims of being a follower of Jesus and show a willingness to do anything from him. Don’t we?

Like, right now if I have to ask you the following questions, think about your answers.

Q. Do we love Jesus?

Q. Do we love Jesus more than ourself?

Q. Do we think under whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in, we will hold fast to Jesus and never leave him?

Q. Are we willing to lay our lives for the sake of Jesus?

I’m sure most of us would easily answer YES to those questions.

If we’re honest, you will all agree with me that there could be moments in our lives where we can end up acting exactly the opposite to what we claim, just like the disciples.

As I was evaluating the reasons why the disciples may have behaved in that way, I thought of three of them.

Fear of Man

The first reason I see is the Fear of Man.

I’m sure they were terrified when they saw crowds of men standing with swords and clubs. If we try and put ourselves in their shoe, I am sure we would be terrified too.

Think about his, what if right now a 100 people turn up in this room with swords. What do you think will be our response? Obviously Fear.

Forget people with swords, we get terrified when people ask questions about our faith and ask why we’re sharing the Gospel. Often times our natural response is to get away from those places.

I remember an occasion when we hosted a business seminar in Mumbai along with a team who came from the US. The goal was to make friends and connect with people. But when one of the speakers, out of the blue decided to speak about his faith, a group of attendees stood up and interrupted the seminar and went and complained to the owner of the facility that we are trying to convert them to Christianity. I remember how terrified I was and all I wanted to do was hide my face somewhere.

Imagine a situation where your unbelieving family members threaten you because of your faith in Jesus, your community people threaten to kill you or your family members because you are a follower of Jesus. When they threaten to throw you out of the community.

I bet it’s not going to be hard. And there is a possibility a lot of us who claim to love Jesus and follow him wholeheartedly will fumble and react just like the disciples.

Love for their present life

The second reason they ran away could be because they loved their present lives so much that they were unwilling to let it go. We all love the life we have, and I’m sure none of us imagines ending it right now or even in the next couple of years.

A situation like that where you are encountered with people who can kill you means losing the precious life we’ve been treasuring all the while. It could mean the end of all our dreams and desires. Dreams of getting married, having children, living in a big life, travelling to places. Why would someone want to lose them?

Think about people who are trapped in the world of fame and fortune that if they claim to be a follower of Jesus, they can lose everything in a moment.

Yes, there is a possibility that our love for our sweet little life would make us react just like the disciples.

Unexpected encounter

The third reason they ran could be because they never expected such a situation to arise. It was an unexpected encounter. The disciples were hoping that Jesus would raise an army and defeat the Roman empire and become their King.

But that is not what they encountered. Instead, the disciples saw Jesus helpless, weak and defeated. Maybe they ran away because they expected something else from Jesus.

We too can encounter unexpected events to happen in our lives. Loss of a family member, loss in business, losing jobs, financial crises, unexpected health issues either with one of our family members or us.

There is a possibility that we can also turn away from Jesus just like the disciples because of the unexpected and sudden events that shake our life of its foundations.

The more I thought about the disciples response against my response in similar situations I was sure that it is possible for me also to turn away from Jesus. Either because of the Fear of Man, love for my own life or because of an unexpected encounter.

And as I was groaning in my heart thinking about my natural responses to such circumstances. I asked God, Lord “How can I love you deeply enough and stay loyal to you until death?”

And, Thankfully I found the answer right there in verse 38 where Jesus finds Peter, James & John sleeping and he says “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

I realized immediately that the greatest providence of God for us in difficult times is God himself.

Jesus takes his disciples to Gethsamane and Mark writes Jesus was greatly distressed and troubled, his soul was sorrowful, even to death because of what was going to happen.

But instead of sitting and worrying about it, Jesus fell to the ground and cried out to the Father, and he even tells the disciples to do the same.

Jesus cries out in prayer saying “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

His natural response in pain was to ask the Father to remove the cup of suffering from him, but immediately after that, he submits himself to God’s sovereignty, knowing that God knows what is best for Him.

He knew that God the Father was seeking to glorify himself. He knew that through his death on the cross God was redeeming back his called ones to himself. He knew that only through his death mankind can find hope of a restored relationship with their creator God.

But three times when Jesus comes to check on the disciples he finds them sleeping and not alert.

I realized as I was reading this passage that our greatest folly which makes us give in to the schemes of the enemy is our failure to stay alert & our inability to pray at all times.

I’m sure that if the disciples had stayed awake and alert and had fervently prayed to God the Father for courage and strength in difficult times, they would have reacted differently.

What is Prayer?

I like to read a quote by John Piper which I believe beautifully summarizes the meaning of prayer.

“Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that He will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy”

Yes, there will be situations in our lives that will look dangerous, we will be hated by men because of your faith in Christ. There will be times when our love for ourselves will be so strong that our bodies will refuse to let go of the things of the world. And yes, there come uncertain and unexpected events that will take us by surprise.

The only way we can stay loyal to Christ and continue in our faith is when our dependence is on God. When we pray and ask God for courage when you are fearful, ask God for strength when you are weak, ask God for patience when you are restless, ask God for joy when you feel sorrowful & ask for wisdom when you are confused.

Jesus said “Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith”

Brother & sisters let us not make the mistake of relying on our strength and abilities but let us turn to God in all circumstances and rely on His providence, which is God himself.

Let us get rid of all the distractions that keep us from prayer and watching over our lives. Lately, I had to get rid of all my social media accounts. I had to put off all my in-app notifications that bothered me and diverted my attention to things that were less important in life.

I’m trying to be more alert and to be in the moment when I’m at home, in the office and while travelling. Always praying to God in my moments of weakness and struggle.

Ask yourself, what is it that you need to switch off in your life that hinders your prayer life and your inability to depend on God at all times.

Let me list down a couple of things that you may want to think about

–    Is it Money, wealth & possession that’s distracting you from praying
–    It is Entertainment? On your Phone, On your TV, On your Computer
–    Is it unhealthy & ungodly relationships
–    Unhealthy/ unplanned s time schedule
–    Work responsibilities
–    Hobbies
–    Lustful thoughts and pursuits

If you know what it is, I urge you to repent before God and run towards Him, desiring for Him.

I believe if you do so, everything will go well with you and He will be give you the strength, courage & wisdom to stay loyal to Him till the end of our lives.

Categories
Mark Sermon

To Such Belong The Kingdom – Mark 10:13-16

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It is such a joy to come together as God’s people and sit under the instruction of His Word. I think it’s good for us to be consistently reminded that the Word of God is our only authority.

It is the Word of God that is living, and active and sharper than any 2-edged sword. It is the Word of God that heals, and comforts and brings conviction in our lives. It is the Word of God that will endure when all else fades away.

And so, when we come to this time each week where we open the Scriptures together, let’s come with expectant hearts. As we seek after Him let’s expect that He will transform us.

Let’s expect that He will conform us to the image of Jesus. Let’s expect that we will look different when we leave this place because we’ve been with Him.

And that’s our prayer this morning; that we would be with God in His Word and that He would bring glory to His name through our transformation. So, if you have a Bible with you, I’d encourage you to turn with me to Mark chapter 10. While you’re turning to Mark 10, I’ll take some time to ask the Lord to do these things in us. Would you pray with me?

We will be looking specifically at verses 13-16 this morning. It’s a very short text, but a very important one for our lives. And I would remind you that these verses are a part of our larger study of The Gospel of Mark.

So I would like to take just a few minutes and recap what we’ve been discussing in this overall narrative.

We’ve said before that Mark 8:27-30 represents a turning point in the life and ministry of Jesus. It’s about the halfway point in Mark’s gospel and it’s where Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ.

You might remember that Jesus looks at His disciples and says, “Who do the people say that I am?” The disciples responded, “Some say that you are John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the prophets.”

And then Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”  To which Peter responds, “You are the Christ.”

That proclamation gives us an important dividing line in the gospel of Mark, where things begin to shift. Before Peter’s confession we read a lot about who Jesus is and how He lived. We get to read a lot about His character and His nature.

After Peter’s confession we read a lot about what Jesus has come to do; how His life is really about His death. And, as we reach chapter 10, Jesus is moving quickly toward Jerusalem.

He’s heading quickly toward the Cross and the culmination of what He came to the earth to accomplish. But as He’s heading toward Jerusalem, He’s still teaching and correcting the disciples.

We’ve said over & over again that the disciples still don’t really get the point. Which is why Jesus is always identifying these teachable moments where He reminds them of the truth about who He is and what He has come to accomplish.

Last week Saju unpacked one of those teachable moments as Jesus taught on the subject of divorce and remarriage. He pointed out how Jesus took the subject back to God’s intention for marriage. That marriage is, in fact, a covenant where a man and a woman become one flesh.

That is the way that God designed it to be. And divorce (like all of sin) is a distortion, a perversion of that design. It takes a gift, given by God for our good, and bends it toward a destructive end.

This morning we see Jesus use another teachable moment to show the disciples something significant about salvation and the Kingdom of God. And we need to make sure that we really understand this because it reminds us of something incredibly important for our lives as well. This is what Mark records in chapter 10, verse 13-16:

“And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.” Mark 10:13-16

I’ve already said that the disciples still don’t get the point. That’s pretty obvious from this text. The picture that we have here is people attempting to bring children to Jesus, and the disciples are scolding them for it. They didn’t want Jesus to be bothered by the presence of children.

Now, culturally, that actually makes a lot of sense. In the culture at the time it would be normal to not have children around these types of interactions with adults, especially when there is teaching happening from a respected teacher.

So, culturally, it would have made sense for the disciples to rebuke the people trying to bring children to Jesus while He’s speaking. But we know that the gospel turns culture upside down. That the gospel is, in fact, creating a new culture. You see, the Kingdom of God has entered and things are different now. Jesus isn’t playing by the cultural rules that the people would expect.

So that’s one reason that Jesus opposed the disciples in this. But, it’s also because it wasn’t that long ago that Jesus had addressed this issue of children with the disciples. You might remember that the disciples were arguing about which one of them was the greatest.

And in the middle of the conversation where Jesus was correcting them, He took a child on His lap and said very clearly, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me…” Which I believe implies that the converse is true:  If you don’t receive these children, you don’t receive me.

Now I realize that we don’t know exactly how much time had passed between that conversation and this conversation, but it couldn’t have been too long. Where Jesus said, “If you receive children, then you receive me.” And now we have an account of the disciples responding to children being brought to Jesus by telling them to go away.

It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, does it? I think the point is that the disciples still don’t really get it. They really don’t understand what Jesus is working to accomplish, and so they rebuke people from bringing the kids to Jesus. And Jesus became indignant with them.

And this provides the context for yet another teachable moment. In fact, Jesus sees an opportunity to drive down to the very core of what it means to enter into the Kingdom of God, what it means to have faith in Him. It’s found in what Jesus says in verse 15. Let’s read this again so it’s fresh in our minds: “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

That’s what I want to focus our time on this morning because it gets right to the heart of the doctrine of salvation and how Jesus rescues us from sin & death. I want to begin this discussion by making a very simple statement, and then we’ll spend the rest of our time unpacking that statement:  The Kingdom of God cannot be earned, it can only be RECEIVED.

Now that’s a very different message than the message the world communicates to us. The world says that you must earn everything. The world says that who you are & what you have is determined by what you do.

We see that message all around us, don’t we? And so it’s no wonder that the religious systems that come from the world communicate the exact same message as it relates to how we are made right with God. Every religious system is a variation of that same message.

Here are the things that you must do in order to have right standing with God, in order to go to heaven. In order to be made whole and complete, you have to do these things (whatever those things are).

I’ve shared this illustration before, but this is the picture that comes to my mind when I try to describe how all of these religions work. It’s like God is on the top of a mountain and people are down at the bottom of the mountain.

And the goal is to get up to the top of the mountain to be with God. And so, Muslims believe one thing about how you get to God. And Buddhists believe another thing about how you get to God. And Hindus believe another thing about how they get to their God.

And people who claim to be Christians, but who don’t understand the truth of the gospel, believe yet another thing about how you get to God. It’s like there are all of these different paths that lead up the mountain to God, and each religion has their own path to get up that mountain.

And each of those paths represents some type of work that you must do, some type of achievement that allows you to travel up the mountain to be with God.

This is the picture of all the religious systems that have been crafted by man throughout the history of the world. But that is not the message of the Bible. That is not the picture that biblical Christianity paints for us.

The story that the Bible tells is that God is in fact up on that mountain by Himself because He is Holy. There is none like Him! He is the Alpha & the Omega, the beginning and the end, the Creator of the Heavens and the earth, the One in whom all creation finds its existence (including you & me). The Bible tells us that God is perfect in all of His ways and completely holy.

The Bible also tells us that we are, in fact, at the bottom of the mountain because of our sin. Romans 3:10-11 says that “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” Verse 23 says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So, yes, we are at the bottom of that mountain separated from God and unable to be with Him because of our sin. I think Ephesians 2:1-3 puts it most clearly. “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

So God is at the top of the mountain in His holiness. And we are at the bottom of the mountain in our sin. I don’t think that most of the religious systems of the world would disagree with that. But here’s where the truth of the Bible and all of the religious systems of the world disagree (and this is the point that Jesus is making in our text).

Where other religions say that you must do things to get to God (to get up that mountain), the Bible says that no amount of good works will ever get you up that mountain to God. That there is, in fact, nothing that you can do in and of yourself to be made right with God.

Which sounds like really bad news, right? But no, it’s actually the most beautiful news that ever was. Because God loves us so much, knowing we cannot get back to Him on our own, He came for us.

The Bible tells us that God has come down the mountain to be with us in the person & work of Jesus Christ. Romans 5:8 says that, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Paul says the same thing in a different way in Ephesians 2:4-5 (these are the verses right after the ones that we just read about being dead in our sins & trespasses). Paul writes, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.”

Friends, that is why the gospel of Jesus Christ is called “Good News”. We were hopeless & helpless, with no ability to do anything to rescue ourselves. But, because of His love for us, God has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him by grace.

And what is grace? It is a gift! It’s receiving something that you don’t deserve. Later, in Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

This is what sets the message of the Bible apart from every other religious system ever developed by man. Our salvation can never be a result of our good works because no amount of working can get you up that mountain.

That’s because, apart from God, we are spiritually dead. I read a quote recently in a book that I’m reading on how the gospel creates in us a heart for our neighbors. It’s by Rosario Butterfield. This is what she said:

“We need God to come to us, to rescue us, because we can’t summon the strength to save ourselves and, even if we could, we would not know where to go. And this is what Jesus Christ did and does. Through union with and growth in Him, we are made new. We are redeemed, forgiven and adopted as children of God.”

The good works that we are able to walk in happen once you have been united with Jesus Christ. They happen once He has breathed life back into your soul. And so, those works are a result of the grace of God being poured out upon you through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on your behalf.

And this is what Jesus is communicating in our text. The Kingdom of God can never be earned, it must be received because it is the FREE GIFT of God to everyone who has FAITH (faith like a child).

Now, if I can, I’d like to briefly make 2 addition points very briefly, and then we’ll be done. 1) I want to talk about the reality of what happens if we don’t receive this gift and 2) I want to explain how you can receive this gift.

First, what is the result of not “receiving the Kingdom of God”? Well, to put it simply, it’s death. Romans 6:23 says that “the wages of sin is death.” That means that the payment that is due for our sin is spiritual & eternal death.

And someone has to pay that bill. If Jesus doesn’t pay the price for your sin, you will pay it — and it is eternally costly! 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 says “Those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”

And so, the short answer is that those who do not receive this gift from God and enter into His Kingdom spend eternity separated from Him in hell.

Second, how do we receive the gift of the Kingdom of God. Well, on this point the Bible is equally clear. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” This isn’t about agreement or intellectual belief. Satan and his demons know exactly who Jesus is and yet they are not saved. This is about submitting your life to the truth of who Jesus is.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]